Flower essences are all natural remedies that address emotional imbalances such as anxiety, fear, aggression etc. Probably the best known remedy is Bach's "Rescue Remedy", used for first aid situations, stress, trauma etc. Essences are currently gaining popularity in the field of animal health. As well as being sought by people for their pets, they are now being used in various holistic vet clinics, training centres, and rescue shelters/groups, as they are helpful with assisting with many emotional problems that animals experience eg.. stress, separation anxiety, aggression etc

  Dogs generally respond beautifully to flower essences. They can be used successfully for a wide range of emotional, sometimes physical, imbalances. Essences are also excellent to use in conjunction with other healing modalities, natural and orthodox, to promote your dog's well being.

 Various factors contribute to a dog's emotional health- his/her own personality, disposition, the environment, diet, hereditary factors etc. How all these factors combine to affect a dog varies from individual to individual, however a dog's environment usually has a very significant bearing on his/her overall health.

The focus of most dog's lives is their home and those who live there, that is, us, their caretakers. As their caretakers, it's important to recognise the effect we can have on our four legged friends. Generally our dogs are affected by our own emotional states. They can "absorb" our own feelings, emotions, including negative ones. Interestingly, they can also reflect our emotions- for example, observe your dog on a day when you might be feeling miserable. First, he'll probably try to cheer you up by bestowing multitudinous licks on your face. If this fails, he is likely to curl up sadly at your feet, mirroring your mood! It's helpful therefore to recognise that at times a dog's mood can be, even if just in part, but a reflection of our own.

Though dogs experience a wide range of feelings, unfortunately for them they can't verbalise what they are feeling, experiencing. Hence when these feelings are causing them pain or difficulties, they cant be afforded some relief from having these feelings expressed, discussed, understood (although luckily those in tune with their dogs can often "read" their dogs and understand how they feel) Neither can dogs generally rationalize or analyse the emotional "vibe" of a household they live in i.e. they cant understand that their human friend is suddenly depressed and has withdrawn because that person just got fired.

In any of these situations, where our dogs are influenced by any problems in the household, the negative "vibes" they pick up from us can "sit" with them, sometimes for lengthy periods.

Enter essences! They're great to relieve the negative feelings your dog is experiencing.  They subtly resolve issues, promote a more positive frame of mind and offer relief and comfort to ones dog.

Like us, dogs respond to other things in their environment and life - they may be affected by an aggressive animal, excess noise, solitude etc. You can administer essences to help them resolve and release the negative emotions such events or environments can cause.

Essences are also of value to assist dogs in resolving conflicts that exist when several pets live under the one roof. The social sphere of most dogs is not huge - they mostly interact with animals in the same house and / or neighbourhood. Relationships develop between individuals and different groups, some of which might not also be the most harmonious and benevolent! Essences can ease the frictions, intolerance's, conflicts etc which may arise as a result.

Furthermore, as a rule, dogs tend to look up to their caretakers and look to us for a sense of belonging and worth. When a newcomer (human or animal) enters their usually restricted social home circle, insecurities, jealousies and rivalries may develop. Again, essences may offer the dog the relief that we obtain by intellectualizing, discussing, counseling etc in a similar situation!

It's helpful to try to be aware of where your dog is at emotionally. It is good to learn and recognise problems, stress's that exist in their lives. Do they get anxious when you visit the vet? Do all the visitors during festive holidays distress them? Do they miss someone when they travel? Do some places you frequent regularly agitate or frighten them? By recognising patterns, you can help prepare your dog for those times when a bit of emotional support would be beneficial. In advance, you could then organise the right essence/s for their specific needs.

They are many other times essences can bring relief and healing to your friends - when they are depressed, shy, nervous, lonely, grieving for a lost companion (animal or human) etc. Essences can also assist with different temperaments- aggressive, nervous, moody, hyperactive etc etc. Various habits can also be addressed by essences: barking, roaming, digging, chewing etc.

Hence, the patterns and situations essences can help with are vast. And, as dogs don't intellectualize the experience of essence therapy, their intellect and reasoning doesn't interfere in their healing process, as can sometimes be the case in human healing processes.

Essences usually come as either concentrate (stock) or diluted (dosage) strengths. Administering either strength of essences can be done in several ways. If the dog is fed via a bowl and you know the food will be eaten shortly, you can place the drops in his / her feed. (Sometimes however, dogs can detect the remedy - the alcohol preservative can give it away- and give their feed a wide birth. If this is the case, one can often purchase essences that use glycerine or apple cider vinegar as the preservative, rather than the traditional brandy.) 

Alternatively, if safe to do so, you can hold your dog and insert the dropper into their mouth (trying not to touch the mouth area) much as you might do with other medicines etc. If administering in this manner, make sure to always run the glass stem (but not plastic/rubber section) of the lid under boiling water, clean it well, then let it cool before replacing it in the bottle.

One can also rub- again if safe to do so, some dogs may get startled- the essence on some unbroken and non-irritated exposed skin (eg. inner ear flap, belly)- be aware though, that in administering the essence in this fashion, you too will receiving the essence therapy as the remedy will be absorbed into your skin.

Finally, one can also often purchase spritzers / pumps and spray the remedy in the vicinity of the dog (be careful however that this does not spook your dog eg.. dogs may snap or bolt!)

Basically, you would probably want to use fewer drops with smaller dogs than large ones (directions are usually to be found on bottles). However, as with people, the frequency of using the essences has a far greater bearing on the outcome than the number of drops taken.

It's a very good idea to monitor your dog's response to the essences. How well and how quickly a dog responds to essences is unique to that individual. Many dogs respond quickly and only require the essences for a short period. Other dogs may require a longer period to see significant changes in behaviour etc. (some dogs also achieve better results if essences are used with other therapies/medicines)

Given the unique response then of each dog, it is wise to continue to observe the dog in question whilst (even after) using the remedy, to gauge how effectively and quickly the remedy works and to act accordingly. eg. a hostile dog may not show a rapid reduction in hostility after one week of essence therapy and therefore one should eg.. continue to keep him/her away from young children whilst he/she's still hostile.

Unlike many pharmaceutical drugs, flower essences, do not have side effects due to their constituents (unless one is allergic to alcohol). For many dogs, flower essence therapy, as well as being a helpful and healing experience, is one that does not "interrupt" their daily life as the effects are subtle. However, with some dogs, when they take essences, emotions / emotional patterns can "come to the surface" i.e. the dog may experience the emotions the essences are "working on". When quite obvious or intense, this is often called a "healing crisis"- i.e. symptoms get worse before they get better and it indicates the medicine is working. If a healing crisis should occur, cease the essences and talk to your essence supplier re possibly adjusting the dose.

Practical approaches should often also not be abandoned or ignored just because a dog is using essences. eg. Aggressive dogs should usually continue to be monitored, trained etc. Again, once the effects of the essences are determined, one can make any relevant changes to the situation if applicable.

Please also note, emotional imbalances can sometimes have a physical cause eg.. a depressed dog may have a bacterial infection which is depressing him. So before purchasing essences, always be sure your dog does not have a physical illness causing his / her emotional problems. If in doubt, always seek medical help.

And of course, never throw common sense out of the window. Acute and / or serious health problems require medical attention - call the vet immediately. Flower essences should not replace vital or important medical diagnosis and attention! 

The relationship between dogs and people is a very unique and special one. Our dogs are our friends and our companions. They offer their love and friendship to us freely. We are blessed to share our homes and lives with them. We can honour our role of guardian by developing an increasing awareness of their needs emotionally and physically. Physically, we can provide a good, balanced diet, exercise, regular medical checks, etc. Emotionally, love and attention are all important! Healing agents such flower essences then remain wonderful supplements to your dog's all round health and happiness.

We are very excited to offer Nature's Solution Flower Essences created by Wholistic Life PL in Australia.